Halloween has always been my favourite time of year. I love the horror (especially the cheesy b movie side of things) and the awesome stuff that ends up on the interwebs.

This year I was pretty under the weather and have been for almost 10 days now, but its finally starting to back down and allow me to actually concentrate on something without coughing and spluttering.

Anyway enough of feeling sorry for myself, I was really excited to receive 2 deliveries on Halloween both with that awesome horror theme which means 2 new games to play AND lots of minis to stare at in awe for hours on end wondering how to go about painting them.

Village Attacks

Release Date: Kickstarted April 2017, Retail November 2018

Designer: Adam Smith

Company: Grimlord Games

Player Count: 1-5 Cooperative

Basic Gameplay Genre: Tower Defence

The Unique Tag: Players are the monsters defending their home against hordes of cruel and vindictive humans.

With miniature based games its common for the first thing to garner my attention is the art and the sculpts. I’ll be honest I was that shallow to say “this looks so good, I’m interested to see how it goes”, without even knowing anything about the game itself.

Village Attack drew me in with some really nice well-designed minis that had a really gothic fantasy feel to the style and theme without going too far into other horror aspects that consist of torture, gore and brutality.

I don’t have anything wrong with these aspects personally but when I’m trying to introduce new gamers or younger gamers to a board games gore and torture are quite a large barrier to overcome in relation to a fun light-hearted night of gaming which we normally engage with.

The Vampire Concept Art

What we are talking about here are myths and legends: Dracula, The Dullahan (Aka The Headless Horseman) and other myths from around the world.

Yes, there are some gruesome aspects to their lore but they can be overlooked because of the way that they are known throughout the world and, in my opinion, more palatable to those who may not be as…nerdy as myself.

The Dullahan Preview Sculpt

The Cad Sculpts also brought the art to life which meant that as a painter I’ve got my work cut out to make them stand up to the art.

For me, it was a no-brainer and then as the campaign went on and more things got revealed I was very happy with how it all came together.

Plus there is always the added advantage of using these minis in D&D or other games that don t require a dedicated miniature line such as Frostgrave or Circle of Blood.

On top of the Playable Monster Characters, of which there are 5 in the core box, there are also the boss level minis who are known as the town hunters and are also lovely sculpts in their own right!

The Grave Digger is a Trained Hunter of the Undead.

Village Attacks is a Tower Defence game at its core. As a party of legendary monsters, you and your tabletop kin must defend the Castle Heart from the local peasantry who have been whipped into a frenzy to rid your evil from their lands.

The Core Monsters included in the box. From the Left: Banshee, Vampire, Lich, Dullhan and Succubus

The Villagers break into the Castle at varying strengths:

Villagers simple single hp melee fodder who will attempt to move towards the castle heart in order to damage it.

Hunters who are stronger against certain monster types in your castle who use deadly ranged attacks to combat their chosen target determined randomly upon spawning.

Town Heroes who are the biggest baddest villagers arriving at the Castle ready to use an array of special weaponry designed to wipe out all traces you and your kin were ever in the lands.

Throughout the Game the players will roll 6 custom dice each turn, these dice will denote what actions the player is able to take during their go. The key gameplay aspect here is using the limited resources to move around the castle and ensure that the Villagers Morale is reduced to 0 forcing them to flee before they can deal enough damage to the Castle Heart.

The basic result allows a player to attack, heal move, defend and counter attack. In addition to this traps will be made available for purchase using specific dice results. Depending on your chosen MOnster you will also be able to use dice rolls to use abilities specific to the monster allowing the players to gain an advantage over the onslaught of the villagers.

For more gmapley info you can check out the Kickstarter Page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/grimlordgames/village-attacks

I managed to get my little brother over to join me in the first scenario and it was quite nice to have him there because I normally have to figure everything out by myself.

Before reading anything we jumped straight into the first tutorial scenario and decided to learn on the go.

Setting up was relatively simple and easy for the first time and the scenario laid out what was required in a very clear and concise way.

We then played the game using the quick reference on the back of the rulebook in which prompted us to find the relevant rules in the book.

For me, this was very nice to do as it kept the game flowing and we managed to get to grips with the mechanics really quickly in order to get a grip on the interesting roll-to-act resource mechanic.

Yea we got our butts whooped…

After all of the monsters have done their best to defend against the onslaught the villagers have their turn. the Ai is very simple with a target priority that focuses on their objective to bring down the castle heart. Although higher level enemies such as hunters and town heroes will focus on specific monsters. Enemies will spawn from fixed points each turn or at areas donated by village event cards that are drawn at a specifc point on the morale track.

Furthermore, as you slay more and more villagers their morale will tick down causing your team to get closer to driving them away and gaining more power with new abilities and options to drive them away.

By the end of the first 2 scenarios we were really geared and ready to go for the next bit and try out the traps and other more advanced actions which are steadily introduced across the Tutorial part of the quests.

The 2 scenarios we played took around 45 mins including setup and rules checks and tidying up wasn’t too bad afterwards.

I can imagine that some scenarios will take a lot longer to play and when we start seeing traps and other tactics it will become a bigger beast but I am quite interested to play more.

Checking rules on specific parts of the game were easy to find and the rulebook was well laid out in order to quickly read and understand in conjunction with the quick reference sheet on the rulebook.

Difficulty is going to be an interesting draw to continuous play. I may have missed it in the rules but more players will make the game easier. Playing with 2 monsters obviously limits the actions available to the Monsters whilst there was no reduction in the villager spawns. So synergy will be an important aspect to future forays into 2 player games.

I enjoyed the resource die more than I thought. It creates some additional depth and cooperation to the strategy. At one point we managed to gather 5 melee rolls from the reserve plus setup a perfect opportunity to crush a group of town heroes who had recently taken down the Lich whilst recovering some health for the Vampire and the Banshee.

We did find that 3 players were really interesting and I’m chomping at the bit to play with 4 at the next game night.

I can see that there are going to be some very interesting combos to run to build up synergies between monsters, considering I have 26 of them to try out.

Also, the 26 town heroes have many different way s of breaking those synergies by design which means there oculd be room for lots of replayability across the scenarios.

Something I did find a little faffy was the special room aspect. Depending on the scenario, some rooms have special effects that will damage or buff certain groups, this is quite a nice addition because it meant that we have varied gameplay and the tiles aren’t just random art but more of a risk or reward when it comes to formulating a plan.

The art is super nice on the tiles

But when you are managing a lot of different parts on the board you can often forget it mid turn which might cause you to have done an action that you couldn’t have because of the room only to realise after it was too late to reset.

I think a ismple set of tokens that would provide a nice reference to the room reminding the players that this room is bad because would have made it easier.

Although this may be just because I’m 2 games in and haven’t fully got to groups with what is happening yet.

The minis were al very nice, the sculpts living up to their promise with minimal flash and no noticeable miscasts. There were a few that had been assembled differently from others with arms at different heights but it wasn’t too much of a problem.Also there is a weird thing with the hunter bases, whilst they have obviouly been filed down the bases dont fit on in flush which isn’t a breaking thing but could be improved.

Some minor assembly errors

I will need to work on some of the hunters bases as shown, but thats not a game killer, although there may be some who dont work with minis and find is slighty irksome.

Not quite round

Other than the minor errors and some bendy weapons I’m really looking forward to working on these at some point.

I think this will be a good addition to my collection, I don’t have any other tower defenses and the way the dice mechanic impact your plan is quite nice. The art and qulaity of the game is beautiful and as a cooperative gamer it will be a fun experience mixing various aspects up and seeing how my group will tackle the puzzle.

For long-term gaming I’ll be curious to see how the game becomes more modular, something like a random layout system for quick play would be nice but that wont be for a while because the scenarios combined with potential synergies will be bringing this to the table quite alot over the next few years.

In the Meantime,

I’ve also got some great news with my own mini currently in development 😀

I’m sure it will have no impact what so ever on painitng and gaming haha!

I’ve still been plugging away painting and I’ll get a little showcase sorted with Octobers work up soon.

I’ve had a creative block for some reason. I can’t look at a mini and say; “you’ll look great in this colour”.

Instead it’s been how does this look, nope start again, meh, hmm this is better but not quite right and so on…

Maybe I’m not painting enough maybe I’m a little preoccupied, new job, opening a new store just before Christmas, arranging my first mortgage and looking at moving just after Christmas.

There is a possibility that it’s creating the block.

But the result of not painting much is resulting in a little bit of skill face which has hampered my willingness to paint because it’s not coming out as intended/imagined.

It’s a cycle of no paint action which is just not cool.

Over the weekend I managed to break it.

First I thought back to and exercise they used to make us do in Art back in school.

Just a pencil and no rubber.

I hated it, what if the perspective was wrong, what if the ears were wonky what if I turn the

But I looked at one of the minis that’s been sat on my hobby desk for the last month and thought if I keep repainting you I’ll never be happy.

Second I remembered another little mantra “done is better than perfect”.

So I just went ahead and finished it to a Tabletop standard and forgetting about my original ideas to try OSL and blended xenithal highlights because they weren’t working on the mini (although the final piece has got a simple attempt).

I will get there but right now done is better than it sat there in a state of abandonment taunting me.

At the end of the day when he appears in a dungeon he’s a giant Diablo/Balrog wannabe who will instil terror among a party with it’s guttural demonic roar whether he has Zenithal highlights or not.

Maybe setting my sights on all the frills has made me forget about the fun.

I’ve always been one to keep going once I’m going but when I stop it’s a strain to start again.

I think right now getting stuff done means Ill have more motivation to practise all the frills because of that momentum and increased focus.

In other words there is more to come.

I mean I did go out and get some new brushes from Windsor and Newton and there is a significant improvement in the tidiness of my paint jobs at the moment.

Although the softer hairs have taken a little getting used to.

I’ve got sooo many minis that are really pretty right now and I thought a shout out to some of these companies are due!

Hopefully next week I’ll have some finished pics of some preview minis from Wild Assent by Lazy Squire Games (these are almost done too :D)

Spoiler alert they are pretty nice;)

In the mean time,

What motivates you to get painting?

Have you taken breaks in the middle of projects and struggled to start again?

This week I’d like to talk about a game that just arrived after kickstarting back in 2017.

I don’t do these very often but when a new game arrives I do like to talk about it.
Before I go any further I would like it if you let me know what you think of these First Impressions and Unboxing posts because it’s always nice to see where I can improve.

I’ve been really excited about this one because its premise is to bring mechanics from roleplaying and skirmish games into a fantasy setting that is oozing fluff and creativity.

Before getting started just a little disclaimer: All art and pictures of painted minis are property of Last Bullet Games. I have paid for the game and have not been sponsored for this.

Congrats Last bullet Games

What is Circle of Blood?

“Circle of Blood is a miniature game that reproduces tactical battles of two or more squads of Adventurers called Brotherhoods. The players are in charge of a group of brave heroes or villains that come from different regions of Farenhell. These unalike Adventurers will have to defend the city from the dark events which surround it, or maybe take advantage of this chaos to provoke terror and crimes during the missions created by this game.”

I’m gonna start off by saying my Number 1 all-time game is Mordheim. City fighting in a fantasy setting with a party that grows with experience just gives me the perfect hobby buzz.

So Circle of Blood started off instantly with a really succinct hook with tactical battles between players in a dark fantasy city setting

Created by a small company Last Bullet Games, based in Spain Circle of Blood was the first time this team had brought anything to Kickstarter and it is a risk for those who decide to pledge.

What really caught me was how the campaign page was loaded with stories and art that really worked together with this introduction teasing roleplay and skirmish elements together in a very interesting way that had me cleaning my nostalgia goggles and looking into the game less as a comparison to Mordheim and more as a progression.

As the campaign went on multiple NPC’s were unlocked, papercraft houses were included and an AI/Coop Ruleset was also brought to the game.

So I decided this one is worth the risk and put some money down in support for Last Bullet Games to get the starter box due to ship in January 2018

THE ARRIVAL

If you aren’t a person who likes/understands Kickstarter a common thing that happens is a delay on shipping so last week the game FINALLY arrived a few months late.

But that isn’t a bad thing producing and sorting a large volume of orders for the first time would be a challenge for most startups and it’s here and I’ve unboxed it to have an inspection of the components and read the rules.

SHOW ME THE MINIS!!!!

The lack of protection on the package had resulted in damage to the beautiful box art. I know its a minor thing but I really love box art and its the first this that you see when you open the package up.

Some Lampposts came slightly damaged as well as a few limbs here and there.

On inspection of some parts, there were breakages in some of the resin casts, but they can be fixed with some effort and super glue.

Overall barring these niggles the quality of the components minis and printed support material is beautiful.

Houses fit for Papercraft Royalty

Images of the assembled buildings from the Kickstarter. I’ll probably mount them on foam board to keep them stronger for longer.

By the way, I have spoken to last bullet games and they are sending me a new box, plus some dice that got missed out so they are focussed on providing the best product possible.

Lady Nisbet one of the NPC’s in Gormaluk

The resin casts have a lovely detail and the metal miniatures are dynamic and unique to the theme and setting.

I haven’t said yet but there is a Samurai Dwarf!

Careful Mate! You’ll poke somebody’s eye out…

Some required instructions for assembly, which were provided after backers requested it. But would be something I’d normally expect in the Starter Box itself especially when Starter Boxes are normally something that attracts newer hobbyists to the scene.

I did find that the bases provided for some minis were not the right size, one actually has an extender on the base to fit him and his pet wolf on, which whilst being a novel approach could have been a larger base to make it easier. Especially with it now being half textured and half not.

Also, the dynamic poses have resulted in the majority of the metal minis posing in their toes leaving little surface area for glueing or pinning.

Samurai Dwarf!!!

I’ll be saving some pennies for some cobbletone bases later down the road and transferring the minis onto appropriate base sizes. Some Gorilla Glue would also benefit the tip toes.

Overall though the sculpts and casting are lush. Details are smooth and the momentum on some minis are going to be really nice to have painted on the table. I like how creativity and originality have been a focus on the design side but again as a hobbyist who doesn’t assemble much anymore, sometimes it helps when the assembly is made as easy as possible.

I also spent a little extra on upgrading the cardboard components to 3d resin ones, because I do love terrain pieces and I can use them in other games.

Levers, traps, locks and markers are always useful.

A select few of the assembled Minis

Onto the Rules then.

Some lovely art work on both the rule book and the 35 page questbook.

The book itself is a really good tome of story, pictures and very well laid out. You can literally read the first chapter and understand how the game works.

As you read more you get to see more of the world and the intricacies that the game provides.

I’ve had a quick read over the basics and mechanics and it seems pretty solid.

Starting with a Brotherhood a player can build a team of individuals from any system, yes this is a game like Frostgrave where any minis can be used to build custom characters and enemies.

You can choose from a range of occupations that suit the background of your character, give them personality flaws and virtues that will provide character in gameplay. The equipment and levelling system is simple and well referenced.

There are around 20 pages of skills and spells to choose from on top of around 20 prebuilt classes or occupations to which can suit most standard quickplay scenarios.

Also, there is an aspect of stealth and skulduggery at play in the rules. This has me very curious, skirmish gaming is tactical, what you as a player can see dictates how your characters act on the battlefield.

Don’t worry old chums I’ll just be walking by nothing to see here…

I am curious how stealth will play out in games and I can see it either being thrown to the wayside or used so efficiently in a turn I may end up in trouble with my wife. But it’s nice to see that it is included as an option to bring a new layer of tactics that I personally haven’t played on the skirmish level before.

All in all, so far the rules look very fun and with coop, solo and vs modes it will provide a very flexible gaming night. Plus the low mini count reduces the rush paint job and the playtime.

It is expected that standard games last between 1 and 2 hours of play. I can see this happening eventually but to start I’ll be expecting to put a day aside for setup and rules checks as we get used to it.

Final Thoughts

This tagline is a goldmine of hobby and playtime for me because it has the potential to tick a lot of boxes that I’ve been looking for since getting back into painting with miniature board games.

Number one on the list is to play a skirmish game, most people who know me can tell you how much I love Mordheim. Even if you don’t but you have read some previous posts you can see more than an occasional ode to Mordheim and the denizens within who banded together on their quests for the magical substance known as Wyrdstone.

Additionally, I’ve been finding that the more games I play with my wife the more I’ve noticed how she kind of enjoys having a bit of complexity to her games, giving her the freedom to create unique stories and characters who she can grow and control.

Especially with the success of playing D&D, there is a chance this could be a winner.

I can see that it will be a while before we get to play a game because building scenery is something I’m still learning and I really want this to look good.

I would say that some of the components to require an extra thought just to make sure that sizes are right and that the minis are protected during future shipments saving time and superglued fingers fixing small parts together again.

Overall I am really looking forward to setting up something good and using it to focus my hobby a little bit in order to get things done for a specific end. I’d definitely recommend keeping an eye out on other channels if you are interested to find out more and seeing how the team evolves the game.

In the meantime,

I’m starting a new job soon which hopefully means more blogging and painting time and a little extra cash for the hobby fund which is always a bonus.

I’ve kind of gone off on a weird one this week but I’m curious as to other people’s thoughts so let me know if you think I’ve lost it.😂

Seriously I’ve managed to get so much done that I didn’t realise how much I could do in a single sitting!

First off I finally watched infinity war pt1 and dayum what a rollercoaster of a ride!

It had me thinking about a D&D campaign that I’m writing at the moment (alongside building terrain and painting everything). It is the first time I’ve written one and it’s still being planned but anyway…

Without too many spoilers there are few things that the Marvel Series has done great leading up to the Infinity War.

1. The way “NPCs”(aka not the avengers) are used as carriers whilst feeling like they are the main plot point for their brief time in the spotlight.

Yes they are part of the Avengers but often sickened which could make for fun allies who can’t really be relied upon by the party to solve every problem.

Yea I know death is about as permanent as tissue under a tap for MCU but I’m just taking the meaty bits the way a world ending source of power can fall into any simplton just living his life in my imaginary world suddenly has the power to control minds of reanimated the dead without knowing the true strength behind his gift has turned out quite powerful with the right plot hook.

The thing that had me was the way Red Skull was positioned after being a pretty rubbish throw away character in Captain America.

2. Making that 2nd act downtime actually pay off.

Something I’ve always found difficult in D&D is the non combat stuff.

I’ve always been a bit of a Conan style character in my approach. Even Shamash my Dragonborn paladin has ended up the same way after ploughing tons of points into charisma, I still ended up making him a tank. A tank that is forever being knocked out or rolling rubbish when headbutting a rude Npc but still when he connects he’s pretty lethal.

So I struggle with the downtime out of combat with the talking because I as a player don’t really know what to ask or how my character should ask it.

Something I noticed was how an Npc’s character can evolve even after death and how what they did can have an affect on the way the Party perceives future threats.

But only if the character is played in the right way and to a level that the Players can understand as a threat until they realise the greater threat is the one they havent yet discovered.

Placing a key item that will create reactions with a future Npc who knows it only by legend, somebody like the Collector or Vision depending on how I and up with a neutral point of interest whos knowledge is helpful yet fractured.

3rd and Finally(for now) the big battles.

Seriously that battle was amazing! You know the one I’m talking about…

Putting that into my campiagn will be a good challenge but I’ve got an idea one that will allow the tactician to tactic, the murder hobo to murder hobos etc.

It’s one thing I’ve never experienced in D&D, so it will be fun to see how it goes but keeping it smooth for the Players without going full fantasy battles will be something I’ll have to reign in.

Anyway Infinity War was freaking brilliant and I may have to watch it again for funsies.

On top of the jaw droppingly awesome piece of geekness I also managed to get some other gaming planning done.

This was for Massive Darkness, which has been a bit of a mixed bag for me since it arrived.

It just felt a little too light in the end with some of the thematic parts feeling a little tacked on bundled with a really low difficulty curve it hasn’t been played as much as I wanted to.

But one thing the Zombicide / Massive Darkness mechanics work well for is sandboxing. Literally making up your own house mechanics and just adding them to the game to adjust and fine tune those areas that didn’t sit too well.

After a request on on of the community pages on Facebook, for a specific type of story campaign around the elemental box I thought I’d give it a go.

Just one of the quests where the party is separated and must fight to the end battle the wind itself.

Around 3 months ago…

Finally this weekend I managed to get something down.

I’ll be honest my influences are glaringly obvious but more in a homage as opposed to direct copying.

Well that’s was the intention Mr GW copywriter sir 😅.

I mean Orcs have brought their god idol to life , dwarves have made crazy machines in the heart of the mountain it’s not like I’ve directly quoted the battlecry of a Khornate war monger. But I’ve used a couple of ideas.

Ive always felt that was a thing with custom material for sandbox style tabletop gaming. I’ve adapted it to fit the mechanics of massive darkness and made the maps, I just needed some fluff to grease the creative wheels so to speak. I mean it’s just a hook to set the scene and give a reason to the party to be in the dungeon so hopefully it will go down well.

Anyway I’ll be tweaking them over the week and adding a final quest hopefully I’ll get a chance to playtest and do a write up about the first thoughts if anybody is interested.

If you are a fellow Massive Darkness player and want the maps remind me to chuck a Google drive link up.

So the exciting part is that I taught my wife to paint this weekend.

It was weird.

Not bad weird.

I am a habitual overthinker which means I spent most of the time trying to stop myself from saying “are you having fun?” or “what do you think?”

But I think she had fun, and we got the initial colours down and a coat of liquid talent over the mini.

After that we called it and I realised how much it can take out of somebody who isn’t used to staring at armour, muscles and leather for hours at a time.

I realised how and why I can occasionally be a little crochety after painting for a few hours.

Ky-rà looks pretty good so far next week I hope to start on basic highlighting with Becky so she gets to see more of how the mini comes together.

While helping I also managed to get started on repainting the minis I had stripped before and hopefully will have them finished over the next few days to possibly do another building or maybe a different style of mini so that things don’t get stale.

The initial paint job using dip and the colours on the cards

Current colours and progress. I think they’ll have a nicer impact with bolder colours.

Also:

How was your weekend?

Have you got any suggestions of films series to watch that could help me develop some fun narrative?

This month has been an incredibly difficult month to get anything at all done!

Unfortunately soon after my honeymoon, I was stuck at work after hours for 2 weeks in order to sort out a stock take and deal with an overwhelming level of chaos and it took a lot of effort to refocus and arrange.

On top of that my wife was ill and any free time was spent nursing her back to health and playing the role of good husband 😀

Then the unthinkable happened and we lost a very dear friend incredibly suddenly.

It has been heartbreaking and really turns life upside down…

But, if hard times are lessons then we have to get back up and keep riding the wave, so to resume your regularly scheduled musings and mayhem from the hobby den over the last week and a bit where I have eeked back some time to do somehting hobby related.

Painting the Horde:

With the arrival of Green Horde a couple of days before the Wedding I had to paint up the Spectral Walkers who were a real ‘must have’ part of the Kickstarter back in 2017.

I wanted to create something dark yet spectral and drew from a couple of very popular worlds in order to create something unique.

King of The Dead from Return of The King

The Night King from Game of Thrones

Both pretty iconic in popular culture and looking at how the minis were sculpted I couldn’t resist giving it a go.

First Colour trials

After trying to get an effect I was happy with on the swirling cloaks using Niklah Oxide I wanted to see how it would respond to inks.

Initially, the green Ink looked really great but with all the green from the Orcs that will be on the board during a game the Spectrals needed to be differentiated form the horde of undead greenies and I was inspired by some fellow painters to try some fade out on the robes using blue and black inks.

But with the number of minis that are currently populating boxes within the gaming room I wanted to get an effect that would make them quick and easy to finish, plus they can always be worked on and improved at a later point when I run out of minis right?

So Stage 1

Undercoat black and a drybrush of Grey followed by a drybrush of White

Stage 2

Cover the Mini in Niklah Oxide and apply a watered down blue ink to the skin.

Stage 3

Apply a water down black ink to the extremities of the cloak. Then a Green Ink in the recesses of the Robes making the Niklah to black fade more subtle.

Stage 4

A light Drybrush of white over the raised areas and repeat on 17 minis.

Now they are quite rough around the edges buuuut they are tabletop standard and after a bit more practice getting into it I will be going over to create some menace by painting their eyes some sort of glowing green.

I have to say though that Niklah Oxide is a pretty decent paint. Iits so incredibly versatile taking couolours and highlights quite well and allowing me to use its effects in bizzarre ways too.

FYI;

If you dont have access to a Citadel supplier or dont like citadel Lukes Aps has a homebrew method where he achieves it with basic household gear here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOuFf8D1EZI

Monster Mash

On top of these guys, I wanted to finish a monster too.

Trying something new I wanted to go for a stand out centrepiece for an Orc Abomination. Who is normally a boss mini during games of Zombicde.

Initially, I thought a pale colour scheme would be a good idea I mean the pale colours should provide some terror when he spawns amongst a mob of rotters.

However, when trying to finish him off I felt like I was fighting the mini and the palette I had chosen really wasn’t working in the way I wanted it to.

So in a fit of rage and disappointment in my abilities, I stripped him down and started again this time with a bolder more orcish palette.

Now we have a boss. Pure orc-y-ness and dark magic bundled together into the Abomination ready to tear down the strongest of survivors in a simple crushing blow.

WorldBuilding

Last but not least I had to have a go at some more worldbuilding because I’m really looking forward to providing the stuff for our D&D game to make a more immersive world and it could double up for Frostgrave: ghost Archipelago (hint hint Becky when you read this ).

I have a huge PDF collection of Fat Dargon papercraft terrain and over the last couple of year have built a few bits only to stop because they are such a pain to make and maintain.

Thanks to Realmsmith on youtube I had another go and managed to get one together with very little anguish or swearing in around 2 hours.

I still have a lot of work to do for the terrain build but to have options for a modular town with access to buildings will create a lot of depth to future games, it will be slow but I can’t wait to have a roll out and play modular table sometime soon 😀

I’m hoping that August turns out to be a less turbulent month which means I can post more random hobby antics.

One of the things I’ve done is put a list of plans in a One Note so that I have a loose framework to follow for the next 2 months. It should mean I have a more measured approach to getting more minis painted and also not being as much of a butterfly.

I’ve got some awesome minis to paint up as well as all of the Zombicide heroes so I do want to experiment with Zenith highlights and OSL a little more alongside 3 exquisite minis from Old School Miniatures Kickstarter Circus of Corruption.

Also with the crazy rain-free summer we are having in the UK, I’ve got 2 BBQs planned and some more D&D to play.

I have bought Becky a mini of her own to paint which will be an interesting adventure next month. Hopefully, I can exchange it for driving lessons…

In the meantime,

How has your June/July been? Have you got anything exciting in the pipeline?

Apologies for the radio silence over the last few weeks. I haven’t abandoned you I have just been a little busy getting married and enjoying an all-inclusive romp around St Lucia.

Before I go musing I hope you have all been well and it would be great to see your comments with what you have been up to for the last 3 weeks.

When you comment I also go and read your blog too so the more people who comment the more stuff I get to read on my breaks at work also during my walk to and from work.

What you don’t believe me? I promise I have, plus I want an excuse to show off a wedding picture 😀

Anyway…

With all the hubbub and wedding stuff I have had literally zero chances to really do anything other than think about minis, which didn’t happen much either to be honest.

However, I have ended up with a big backlog of minis to do and its left me feeling a little like I’m in over my head again. But its not going to stop me from painting this time not now I have so many goodies to get through.

It was a real mess sorting this out…

Just before I went galavanting off to the tropics Green Horde Wave 2 arrived. Holy Cardboard Cutouts Batman! I think there are around 200 minis to get through including siege engines and Ginormous Dragons!

Clever Girl…

Additionally, my 2nd Model Box arrived which followed a Legends Theme, perfect for me as I was looking for a pretty Badass mini to paint up as I think my Dragonborn Paladin may die next game…

In other Model Box news I didn’t win the Painting Competition, but, the Winner gave me an insight into what I should be aiming for and wow did he do some great work!

The smooth highlights and the attention to the finer details with such a beautiful choice of colours standing out against the stark, drab backdrop really tells a story, I just love it!

This month I won’t be entering the competition due to the fact that everything is up in the air right now but I will be practising and attempt to compete another time. More on this soon I’m sure 😉

It was really nice to see my work pictured on another post though 😀 https://www.facebook.com/yourmodelbox/posts/596112490755366

However just as I was settling down and looking at what projects I should start box 3 arrived as well as the first mini crate that I bought back in April.

With both arriving at the same time, I thought I might have a little comparison and a little ramble based on my thoughts of them both.

Before I continue I think it is prudent to let you know I have paid for both so there is no sponsored bias here what follows is just my own personal thoughts regarding the 2 services.

I will add links to both homepages in case you are interested, just note I am not an affiliate and you do not have to click them if you don’t want to.

So Mini Crate is a monthly subscription box where you get an exclusive limited run (at least it seems so) mini that is revealed every month in advance of the subscription being taken from your account.

I couldn’t resist ordering this Crate because Alten Van Helsing is a pretty beautiful miniature that screams Bloodborne and will look great alongside one of my all time favourite GW minis Aenur Sword of Twilight from Mordheim.

The packaging is really fun and interesting and the miniature is of a really nice cast and sculpt i really cannot wait to paint him up as a wandering monster hunter possibly in the vain of of Mathias Thulman, a character from Witch Hunter by C. L Werner.

This book is one of my favourites by the way and a really enjoyable fantasy adventure if you can find a printed copy as it is quite an old Black Library book.

Now don’t get me wrong I liked the Mini Crate mini and $18.99 (£14.41) for a mini every month is a wonderful treat! Plus if you make an annual subscription costing $112.99 (£85.77) every 6 months you also get a VIP miniature.

My problem with the mini crate is that there isn’t anything else and the VIP bonus softens the monthly cost slightly but I’m not in a position to shell out that much cash in a single blow, mainly because I’ll forget to save for it).

Also, it took nearly 3months for my first on to arrive which means there is little I can do to plan when I will paint it, and after waiting for so long my eagerness has waned slightly due to the fact I’ve got loads on the backburner at the moment.

So, Mini Crate is a pass for me, unfortunately, but I will keep my eye on their page to see if there is another mini who will join the soon to be troupe of Grim Dark adventurers and monster slayers because the sculpts are amazing and I will paint up Alten, at some point…

Model box is also a monthly subscription box it costs £21.99($28.97) per month plus shipping (£4.99 to the UK £9.99 internationally).

Now model box runs slightly differently, each month has a theme and within the theme, you will get a box of hobby.

This will include minis, terrain and basing bits, paints and sweets (although I can’t eat Haribo my Wife loves them so she eats them as she unpacks her Birch box)

If you are interested in what I have received for the last 2 months I think I posted somewhere (I’ve made a note to upload some links if I have)

This months theme was titled War 2.0 and I was seriously blown away by the content.

Inside the box, I got a whole 10 man squad of Warlord Games Bolt Action Austrailian

Jungle Infantry, a member of Stoessi’s heroes and the next Iteration of the Model Box Fox following the theme for this month(who has been aptly named Rox in case you were curious).

The full haul from War 2.0

This was a bit of a surprise because I actually bought a mini from Warlord Games last week because he was on sale for £2.50 and I couldn’t say no to the style and pose of this guy…

So my thing here is I really don’t like not knowing where my money is going. I tried loot crate for a while and ended up with a load of rubbish apart from a couple pieces of Deadpool memorabilia.

I had the same feelings about Model Box;

Do I really need another box of stuff I won’t ever use? Probably not, I could find a use though,

Do I really care about minis that much? Recently I have found myself looking at them more than game pieces, and I have enjoyed painting so much

Can I not just stick to what I have and finish that? The last time I did that I burnt out and stopped painting for fun, actually hated it a lot and almost got rid of everything.

Model Box doesn’t have me upset or disappointed so far. I’m actually excited to see what is in the box each month, I mean I don’t paint or play Bolt Action, I don’t know what I’m gonna do with a Machine Gun wielding fox.

But I’ve been given the opportunity to see different brands and different genres without having to do my research or spend ages deciding what I want to pick. The Aussies are pretty great for me because I’ve always loved the Catachan stuff GW do, and now I get to paint them up and attempt new things.

You can probably tell I’m a fan of Model Box. I’m actually a fan of both mini addiction subscription enhancers. But I only have the funds for one and right now I’m staying with Model Box purely because of how it is supporting my hobby by giving me somehting different to paint from the Kickstarter sculpts that, whilst gorgeous, can often get a little samey and lacklustre by the time you paint the same thing for the 15th time…

If you want to check out Model Box you can check them out here: http://yourmodelbox.com/

If you subscribe via this link; http://yourmodelbox.com/?r=38798&s=2072 .You get £2 towards a box and I also get £2 towards mine which is the same for all members so you can also ask your friends if they are subscribers to help them out too.

Again I’m not sponsored or affiliated I just wanted to talk about what is fighting for the hobby time right now.

Still coming up this month I think I have 2 Kickstarter’s inbound and I am going to figure out where to start with this backlog of minis I am expecting a Liono themed mini sometime soon to preview for Lords Of The Motleyverse but I’ll most likely start by finishing off the Carnitaur from Punga Miniatures, because I started him before all the Wedding chaos distracted me 😛

I’m also trying to play around with the layout on here to see if I can find something less plain and more interesting.

In the meantime,

I really need to paint again, it’s like not exercising in a while I can feel a bit of ability fade which has me a little nervous.

I can’t believe how quickly the last 2 months have gone it’s absolutely insane!

Its been a while since I posted but the daily grind has taken over my life and wedding prep has been on my mind as we stare down the final 2-week stretch (actually its now only a week to go!)

I’ve still managed to paint every day before work which has resulted in a completed horde for Zombicide: Green Horde. This has meant over 100 minis have been completed in about 2 months which has actually got me feeling a little smug 😀

However, right now I don’t feel like I am pushing my skills forward. I mean the zombies look really great and finishing them off so quickly is an achievement but there wasn’t any actual skill progression involved other than accurate brush control and speed.

To be honest that’s all I ever did for Games Workshop…new core game? Meh bash that out in a night and make a table in half a day to show off the new stuff…

The other day I painted up Lord Dreadcore from Lords of The Motleyverse.

I set myself a little experiment, due to his badassness, to see if I was able to make a lave base out of a bottle cork.

I spent all day painting him up and finishing the base. Personally I really love how he turned out and he is living pride of place on my new PC.

But I feel that I can do better.

When it comes to technique I need something to make me feel uncomfortable, worried and almost make me hate doing it…ok hate doing it is a little too far…

I question myself, what would happen if I spent 2 or 3 sessions painting a miniature? How will that change my technique and approach?

During the 30 days challenge, I was trying glazing, painting white, large models in a day, OSL, NMM etc.

The last month I’ve painted fast…15-20mins per model fast.

I think I may also be experiencing a little hobby fatigue…

It’s my fault; new job, wedding, blog and painting all in the same 2 month period something will give eventually.

So I’ve made a decision.

Compete.

I’m not a very competitive person, when I play games I like the story and killing monsters, I mainly play co-op because I want to make sure I have somebody to talk to for the rest of the night after the game is complete.

Every month Model Box does a painting competition in order to win more goodies which is kinda cool, I don’t think I can win but if I try it means that I have a chance to learn where I stand and what I should look at improving on.

Maybe mixing it up and painting something different is the right way to go.

I’m still setting an objective. I’ve got 1 month to finish a miniature, that’s not too bad it means I can do other projects at the same time such as finish off board game hordes.

There is a slight box of shame feeling going on at the moment because of all the stuff I want to do but not able to do. So focusing on 2 or 3 different projects will mean I can keep focused on my goals.

The projects are no longer specific until started. I’m doing 3 categories: